2000 Pontiac Montana 3.4 from North America

Summary:

Faults:

The van feels like it's surging sometimes, when running a steady speed.

Sometimes it's hard to start. It acts like it's not getting gas. I have to try several times before it starts

Wears brake pads out a lot faster than it should.

A thumping noise under the front end.

Transmission had to be rebuilt.

Had to replace 02 sensor.

General Comments:

I have only had this van since Sept, 2010. I didn't like the van when I bought it, I wrecked my other van and had to replace it within 3 days. I have to work out of my van, so I bought my 2000 Pontiac Montana without checking to see what kind of problems these vans have. I am paying dearly for it now! I don't trust this van to go off too far in. Boy, I miss my Chevy Astro van!

Noisy while driving; always waiting for the next break down noise. Now it might be the transmission torque converter solenoid.

Window electrical switch stopped working.

Both tie rod ends are shot.

Sway bar broke in half.

General Comments:

Unreliable from the start. It never stops with this car; it's one thing after another in the first year of ownership. We must have had 10 issues, one after another.

Once saddled with a payment, getting rid of it was out of the question. Now it's 10 years old, no payment remaining, but still a piece of... plus while it was under platinum coverage, GM was of no help in honouring their warranty.

2000 Pontiac Montana EXT 3.4 from North America

Summary:

Still on the road

Faults:

I just came across this website, and now I'm driving my 2000 Montana like there's an egg placed between my foot and the accelerator pedal.

My SES light has been on since the day I bought this vehicle used, from the GM dealer over 2 years ago. Briefly looked into it, but couldn't find a problem. Since then, the ABS and trac lights have come on and stayed on, also the air bag light sometimes comes on.

The LED display on the radio has never worked although the radio/CD player works just fine... it's just that you never know what time it is or what radio station you're listening to.

The right front tire/wheel began to make a loud whine noise, but I replaced the wheel bearing and that went away. This just so happened to fix the ABS light, but only temporarily; about a week later the light came on again and has stayed on ever since.

The rear wiper doesn't work, and I have noticed recently that the auto leveling system on the rear of the van makes a tremendous amount of noise... I suspect the compressor is about to fail.

I haven't experienced the blown head gasket problem yet, but I am leaking a small amount of coolant from the intake gasket, just enough to have to add coolant every 4 months or so. Today, I checked into the cost of repairing that and found out it will be just under $1000.

I'm now remembering too that a couple of weeks after I bought the van, I noticed the power door locks would lock and unlock themselves at random. As annoying as this problem was, I lived with it, and just out of the blue a few months ago, it stopped. The power locks still work, which surprises me.

I have the same problem with my fuel gauge that others have had. It reads full all the time until I'm on my last few drops of gasoline, then the gauge drops down to empty and the yellow caution light comes on.

I have lived with all these problems mainly because I know the SES light means nothing and all the other electrical quirks aren't serious enough to keep the vehicle off the road.

Anyway, the way I came across this website was that I was doing research on why both my rocker panels rotted out, and I see quite a few others have experienced the same problem. I figure that when the head gasket decides to blow or the camshaft decides to snap, that's when I'll part the van out.

I've driven the van about 65K miles in the 30 months that I've owned it, and other than the $300 air conditioning compressor that I installed a month ago, and the $400 new set of tires that were put on 2 months ago, I haven't put a whole lot of money into this van.

Now that I see that it's a money pit just waiting to happen, I'll just keep driving it until it drops and count my blessings that I got the use out of it that I did.

General Comments:

Reasonably trustworthy, although I have experienced most of the issues discussed here.

3rd Jun 2010, 21:54

Sounds like just a lot of little, annoying things. What counts is it still RUNS.

Have the EGR port checked for carbon buildup and cleaned (helps with the check engine light). Fairly easy to do at home.

Expect the intake gasket (not head gasket) to fail completely within several thousand miles. I say this not to scare you, but as a warning to put some money aside for the repair. It's a widespread issue with that motor.

Don't drive it once that gasket blows, or your coolant mixes with your oil and that engine's toast.

I've owned SEVERAL late-model GM products with the 3.1 and 3.4 engines, so I know what I'm talking about.